A couple of small night raids were launched by the Japanese. 3 of the Sallies were shot down by Beau's and the bombs missed their targets.

SS I-124 attacked one of my CV's TF's west of Siberoet. DD Meredith was blown up by a torpedo and quickly sank. Escorts located the scum when she then tried to attack CV Saratoga (luckily her 4 torpedoes missed the mark) and sank her.

Padang invasion forces are now all embarked and on their way to their mark well to the west of Siberoet. I wuld guess it's about 10 days before they are in place and are ready to head in.

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Submarine Warfare:

Just the one contact today by SS Scorpion claiming AK Africa Maru sunk with 2 torpedoes.

Recon detected a Jap TF at Palembang. I decided to move my CV's within striking range west of Palembang.

A series of strikes were launched against the Port (TBM's) and the TF (SB2C's). Enemy CAP was pretty strong (50+ Zero/Tony) and performed well. My strikes were piecemeal and the scort got separated from soem of the raids leading to heavier losses.

In total I lost over 100 planes in the raids vs 20 Japanese CAP. In return approximately 10 enemy ships were reported sunk (DD/PB/TK/AK/AO/AV) and 10 heavily damaged.

Time to retire to the Cocos Island to replace men and planes before returning to the Siberoet area for the troops arrival to invade Padang. En route to Cocos they'll head within range of Oosthaven where a Jap convoy was reported.

1/2 million tonnes of supply and oodles of support troops and planes bound for Padang are passing the Panama Canal.

My CV's moved south un opposed and launched 2 air raids that wiped out the empty convoy at Oosthaven. 25 x Tojo were on CAP but they didn't interfere much (losing 18 of their number vs 8 x Hellcat, 6 x Helldiver and 2 x Wildcat). The following ships were reported sunk:

Faber has managed to crank out a few turns whilst being on holiday. Good old Penguin

It's been fairly quiet in general what with my men moving to Jump Off points in Burma (Just awaiting the last few Combat units to march to Akyab which are due in the next 4-5 days) and with my ships loitering west of Siberoet awaitign the final combat units bound for Padang.

The Padang forces are now all in place and the TF's have been given orders to set off to Siberoet tomorrow. A sit rep is shown below.

Strangely there's been no Japanese attacks on Siberoet. Recon shows masses of planes have been brought into Singapore and Palembang (abut 600 in total). They're presumably waiting for my TF's to arrive.

Other than that all quiet.

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Submarine Warfare:

1 x dud/missed attack.

SS Devilfish claimed AKL Shoan Maru sunk off Torishima on the 14th.

SS Tang located an ASW TF off Torishima on the 15th and blew up PB Shoei Maru.

On the 17th SS Pargo heavily damaged AK Kirishima Maru with a torpedo south of Shikoku.

SS Tullibee got into the action on the 18th heavily damaging AK Shoho Maru north of Formosa.

No offensive action but my transports and CV's are a couple of days out of Siberoet before loading up more troops and heading to Padang. Faber's clearly tipped off by all of this and is flying in transports from Palembang and Singapore delivering more troops to Padang. There's 5 reported units and 15,000 men stationed there. I hope I can take it.....

I've flown CAP over Padang from Siberoet to intercept the transports and annoyingly, despite saying transports are intercepted, not 1 has been shot down. We've both lost about 20-30 fighters though.

You'll note that the most northern and eastern of the 4 thrusts have less AV. This is intentional as the aim is to trap as much as I can up around Katha/Myitkyina with the major thrusts towards Prome (Rangoon) and Shwebo (Mandalay).

Due to the high number of enemy subs detected in the area my CV's and transports had to take several circuituous routes and are 80 miles off Siberoet. My 3 x BB TF's managed to race ahead and are already at Siberoet.

The Japanese reacted heavily today launching a series of anti-shipping raids against my BB's and my CV TF's. My Radar drection and CAP response was fantastic (Between 80 and 170 fighters on CAP throughout the day). A few enemy planes broke through but no hits were sustained. Enemy losses were heavy. Overall tallies were:

All being well all ships should be at Siberoet tomorrow. I've ordered some of my CV Fighters to patrol over Padang to try and intercept the transports and I've ordered my TBM's to attempt to bomb Padang's airfields.

We're all set! Final loading has taken place at Siberoet and orders have been given to cross the short straight towards Padang. Time for the armada to set sail! Fighters will be in CAP and the DB/TB are set to attack ships or bomb the troops at Padang.

On the 23rd Hellcat's were patroling over Padang and managed to down 20 x Tina along with a few fighters. In total the Japanese lost 35 planes to my 20 over Padang.

SS I-183 was reported sunk off Siberoet after she attacked and damaged APA Henry T. Allen with a torpedo. SS I-43 was also reported sunk off Siberoet.

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Burma:

Air operations have begun in earnest on the 23rd. Japanese airfields and troops were attacked around Myitkyina, troops at Katha and troops SE of Akyab.

Here what we've reported thus far:

Myitkyina:

33rd Division 2nd Ind. Hvy. Art Bn 2nd Mortar Bn 84th JAAF AF Bn

Katha:

55th Engineer Rgt 31st Field AA Bn 35th Field AA Bn

SE of Akyab:

1st Tank Division 48th Division

Troops are between 9 and 16 miles from their set off point.

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Submarine Warfare:

5 x dud/missed attacks.

SS Dace claimed PB Shotoku Maru sank off Laoag on the 23rd and then damaged TK Nisshin Maru with a torpedo on the 24th.

The journey from Siberoet was action packed! Japanese submarines swarmed over the area with at least 5 being detected. Unfortunately the supply convoy for Padang got separated from the main force and the Jap Subs sinking AK Ellenga, AK Baroda and AK Chyebassa. APA Custer was the worst victim as she was sunk carrying invasion troops and sunk 10 miles off the shore.

Other than that we reached the invasion coast off Padang and troops of 11st (East African) Division set off for the beaches. Due to confusion in the landing, poor seamanship, accidents and enemy troops 1/3 of the division was disrupted.

The rest of the units will head for shore tomorrow after anchoring offshore overnight.

One of the BB Divisions will unleash hell on the enemy at night time as the men go ashore.

In the air the Japanese launched a maximum effort and furious air battles ensued over the target area throughout the day. This was one area that went well. My CAP boys performed brilliantly scoring kill after kill throughout the day. Enemy bombers did get through (about 30 over the day) but no hits were sustained. Some of the raids were heavy (like the one in the screenshot). Recon shows a lot of bombers are missing from enemy airfields but over 300 fighters remain at Palembang and Singapore. I expect a mass of fighter sweeps by Faber tomorrow.

Hi Speedy - have spent several days catching up on all the action since I last commented [after your first carrier battle]. You have had a few setbacks but overall have done very well! The carnage in the past game month has been awesome - he has to be running out of bombers and subs soon! Watch out for the missing Yamato and Musashi which he might decide to send somewhere your carriers aren't - like Pearl Harbour! Or LA, or maybe just Marcus ...

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No matter how bad a situation is, you can always make it worse. - Chris Hadfield : An Astronaut's Guide To Life On Earth

Hi BBfanboy - thanks for the comments and hope you're enjoying the read! It's certainly a fun time at the moment and I expect this to continue from now forth. Faber has taken a lot of plane and sub losses but from what I know the 'silly' Japanese production can out produce the Allies so I don't expect him to be short of planes. Especially after several quiet months to build up the pools. He's taken a toll of my planes and ships as well but nothing catastrophic so far.

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Siberoet:

A fairly 'quiet' 2 days as my troops continue to unload (about 90% done now) whilst the ofrces on the land square each other up. There's been no Japanese air attacks but their Subs have continued to try and cause damage. Our ASW assets have been alert and performed well. No friendly ships have been reported hit but SS I-122, I-37, I-52, I-45, RO-103 and I-184 were reported sunk and SS I-2 and I-40 were reported damaged.

Orders have been given for the Troops to attack the Japanese tomorrow. It will be the first Allied attack on Sumatra!

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Burma:

The Troops have reported in and no sign of Japanese interference thus far. They're 23 miles from their jump-off point.

Allied Planes continue to bomb Japanese troops, positions and bases across northern Burma.

Another action packed month with the action once more focussing around Siberoet and now Padang as the Invasion has gone ashore. The other action has been the re-invasion of Burma. Although as yet it's purely been my troops marching whilst the Allied pound Japanese positions from the air.

No air attacks on the Padang area but a few subs have tried their luck even firing some fish in desperation at my ASW vessels (none of which hit). The following Japanese Subs were reported sunk: SS RO-100, I-9, RO-63 and I-23. I-39, I-177, I-31 and I-181 were reported damaged.

Faber did launch a surprise and well conducted raid against Siberoet's port and specifically it's damaged ships on 1st January. My CAP fought hard but the enemy numbers prevailed. My CVE's are still afloat but more damaged against now (in the 50/60 range for FLT):

I predicted no attack on the 2nd and I was right. I expect one on the 3rd though. I've decided to move back to Siberoet from Padang with most of my TF's (except 2 unloading supply). It's a gamble as it means there'll be no CAP over Padang tomorrow but I predict that Faber will launch a port attack on Siberoet and NOT have bombers on naval attack since he wouldn't want to tangle with my CV CAP.

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Burma:

2 things to note amongst the normal actions (the troops have marched 39 miles so far):

1.) The Japanese 33rd Division has been tracked moving on rail from Myitkyina to Mandalay. It was attacked by LBA on the 2nd which caused heavy casualties (900 men). I wonder if this signifies Faber evacuating northern Burma now.

2.) The Japanese contested one of my Burma raids for the first time on the troops SE of Akyab. 60 x Tojo were on CAP and a big brawl ensued:

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Morning Air attack on 48th Division, at 55,47 , near Akyab

over quite some time I have been grumbling about Fabours air losses and the only conclusion I got to was that his pilot quality of fighter pilots must be awful. Do you know if he puts any effort into pilot training or is he one of the players who just doesn't want to do that at all. Now we all know what happens to any side's fighters that are escorting bombers but those IJ fighters on Cap should do very well against escorts while their sweeps shouldn't be doing that bad either.

I have no idea to be honest. I had 'assumed' that the degredation had been caused by the local attrition. By that I mean the earlier attacks on my forces when I entered Siberoet led to a worse loss ratio for me. This has gradually reversed so that loss rates are pretty good nowadays. I would logically assume Faber is keeping the same units in situ and is just replacing the pilots and maybe these replacements aren't highly trained as you say?

A foothold has been gained in Sumatra. My forces are quite battered though with between 35-50% disablements across the board. I'll rest up for a fair while whilst we bring in Support forces and establish another air bastion in the region. Once I can project air power from there Palembang will only be 7 hexes away and Singapore 6. It will be 2 weeks before US Reinforcements (support, base and planes) arrive on scene via Cape Town. At that point my CV's will provide air cover for one last time at Padang and then leave the scene for the land boys to take over.

The screen shot below shows the current situation in the area.

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Burma:

My forces continue to crawl through the jungles as the Japanese continue to pull out from northern Burma. Only 3 enemy units remain at Myitkyina. It's a wise move from Faber as keeping the units up north is a recipe for disaster.

The odd minor interference takes place by Tojo's on my air raids (about 10 planes lost by each side).

Fairly quiet overall as things settle down after the fall of Padang. I'm waiting for support forces and personnel to arrive and Faber is licking his wounds and only sending over a few planes now and then on sweeps. More air power has just entered the region via Cape Town - the new CV Intepid and 4 x CVL's are heading to join their CV counterparts off Siberoet.

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Burma:

The Japanese continue to pull out of Northern Burma with everything north of Mandalay reported moving south. The Japanese are also pulling out from east of Lashio. Soon the Chinese will receive more supply from the Burma road when we recapture Myitkyina.

My land forces continue to crawl southwards whilst Air power continues to be employed across the front. Faber appers to have bought more planes into the region (70ish at Mandalay and 90ish at Rangoon) but no offensive strikes thus far.

Much th same across the board as we slowly move forward in Burma and we await the substantial reinforcement TF's for Padang. The Padang TF's whoudl all be on scene and at Padang by the end of the month. The CV's can then move away from the area for some much needed R&R before moving onto Phase 2 of the offensives.......

Nothing much to specifically report in Burma (I bombed Mandalay AF for the first time and met 50 x Tojo/Tony on CAP. I lost 30 planes to his 7 so I won't try that for a bit).

In the Sumatra region I've detected an enemy TF at Bengkalis. My CV's are moving NW of Padang to 'have a go' at them tomorrow.

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Submarine Warfare:

6 x Dud/missed attacks.

SS Skate claimed PB Shotoku Maru sunk off Laoag.

SS Seahorse blew up SC CH 44 off Tokara Retto.

SS Pompon sank AK Iwaki Maru off Puerto Princesa.

SS S-44 heavily damaged TK Toen Maru with a torpedo off Takao.

SS Bluegill sank TK Jinju Maru wouth of Tokyo but was sunk by the escorts in return.

SS Tinosa claimed E Ishizaki south of Nagoya on the 10th.

SS KVIII damaged AK Yamazato Maru off Sabang on the 11th.

SS Templar had fun on the 12th damaging AK Kogyo Maru and heavily damaging AK Heito Maru in the middle of the South China Sea.

SS Drum blew up AKL Taibu Maru south of Nagoya.

SS Grayling sank SC CHa-56 off Wakkanai.

SS Balao sank AK Eiji Maru off Balikpapan.

SS Skate blew up PB Shinko Maru #3 off Laoag.

On the other side 2 enemy subs were claimed sunk off Siberoet and Attu Island.

I've always taken a lot of care and focus on my subs. It's my little pet favourite part of the game

I've tracked things since game start in terms of the shipping lanes, the best places to put subs etc. It's now got to the stage that due to the number of subs it's almost inevitable a convoy will pass at least 1 subs on most potential routes. This coupled with a gradual increase in sub Experience and better torps leads to the above

On the 15th the Japanese reacted strongly in the air. Recon has now detected 100 enemy planes in Rangoon and 60 at Mandalay. Enemy LBA bombed my forces south of Akyab. I lost 10 fighters to 18 enemy planes. The issue I now have is my men are far enough away from friendly air that the majority of my fighters (Hurri/Spit's) can just about reach my men to provide CAP. I may half my Akyab forces until forces from Imphal and Ledo have started to reach Mandalay. I'll then launch an Airbonre Assault and aim to continue south.

I'll also shortly begin to build up Ramree Island with forces brought into Akyab and Calcutta.

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Submarine Warfare:

1 x dud/missed attack.

SS Scorpion and Sawfish combined to sink AKL Rozan Maru over 2 attacks off Takao. Sawfish also claimed PB Nichinan from the same TF.

SS Pogy reported sinking AKL Tainichi Maru south of Mindanao on the 14th. She was badly damaged by E-26 protecting the convoy. She's limping to Carnarvon but it's doubtful if she'll make it.

All quiet here as we await the arrival of the reinforcement TF at Siberoet.

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Burma:

I decided to attempt a surprise on the Japanese bombers that had been bombing my forces south of Akyab for 3 days in a row. My fighters boys at Akyab were rested on the 16th and provided massed CAP over my troops on the 17th. The Japanese duly turned up and by days end had lost 40 planes (8 x Fighter, the rest Sally/Helen's) to my 8 fighters. Well done boys. Naturally there were no Japanese raids on the 18th.

The enemy abandoned Shwebo and it seems the most northern Japanese troops are in Mandalay. I've attached a sitrep below.